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Various inorganic materials including crushed stone are used as mulches or ground covers to improve the appearance of landscape. Crushed stone is durable and can serve as an excellent ground cover in xeriscapes or rock gardens where turf grasses or other living ground covers are difficult to maintain or unwanted. Using landscape fabric between the soil surface and the stone and an edging material to contain the stone maximizes the benefits of the crushed stone and minimizes maintenance requirements following installation.

1

Pull up, shallowly cultivate or spray weeds and other unwanted vegetation with a nonselective herbicide such as glyphosate to clear all undesirable plants from the area.

2

Move soil around in the area to flatten high spots and fill in low spots, creating a fairly even soil surface.

3

Spread sections of geotextile or landscape fabric out over the area where you will lay crushed stone, cutting an "X" in the material to fit it over each existing plant. Overlap the edge sections of material by 6 inches, and secure the fabric tightly against the ground by pushing or pounding fasteners through it into the soil at regular intervals, focusing along the edges of fabric pieces.

4

Install edging material around the area where you will spread crushed stone in order to contain it. Installation methods vary depending on the edging material and could range from pounding stakes attached to plastic coiling into a prepared trench or digging a shallow trench to hold bricks or pavers in place. Tuck landscaping fabric under the edging material as you install it to avoid leaving a gap with exposed soil next to the edging.

5

Spread the crushed stone evenly in the prepared area, creating a uniform layer about 1 to 2 inches deep.

6

Inspect the area with crushed stone regularly, and remove leaves, grass clippings, twigs and other debris from on top of the stone, as this debris will break down to form a soil layer that will support weed growth atop the landscape fabric. Remove any small weeds that grow through the fabric as they emerge.

Things You Will Need

Work gloves

Hoe

Nonselective herbicide (optional)

Herbicide applicator

Garden rake or similar implement

Landscape fabric

Utility knife

Landscape fabric fasteners

Mallet, if needed

Edging material

Tools for specific edging material installation

Flat-headed shovel

Warning

Always apply herbicide carefully and according to manufacturer recommendations. Nonselective herbicides can injure or kill any plants they come into contact with and are most effective when applied to weeds that are not under drought stress when temperatures are below about 90 degrees Fahrenheit.